Rule presets

This rule preset represents an early European version of Mah Jong. The rules are based on Franzi Klein's book Mah-Jongg (1925, Leipzig) and illustrate well the wild era of early Western Mah Jong, when the classical Chinese game was often spiced with innovations foreign to the original game. It is interesting that many of these innovations are still used widely in modern German Mah Jong (e.g., see Ralf Sontag's German Mah Jong pages), but rarely in other versions of Western Mah Jong.

Though the rules are basically classical, there are certain features that make them quite unique. E.g., the meaning of Kongs is greatly emphasized by awarding a double for each Kong. In addition, a double is given for any wind triplet (not just for special winds), and having a triplet of double winds is rewarded with one additional double. Thus, a typical Pung hand with some Honor triplets and occasional Kongs gets easily very high scores.

German rules also typically give both point and double scores for certain patterns (e.g., for going out on a concealed hand, or for special cases like going out on the last tile of the Wall). A concealed hand (excluding the winning tile, which can be a discard) is also emphasized since it pays 3 doubles (in addition to the basic 10 points), while a fully concealed hand pays 50% or 100% of the Limit! In modern German rules there is also a unique feature according to which One suit and Honors gets different scores depending on the number of suit sets (triplets or Chows) the hand contains. This is supported in Four Winds, too, though this practice is not used in the pre-defined German rules.

A couple of rare special hands (a Chow hand 123-345-567-789 of one suit with a Dragon pair, and a Pung hand 111-333-555-777-99 or 11-333-555-777-999 of one suit), along with some irregular hands typically used in early American Mah Jong, are acknowledged, as well. Klein's rule book also mentions the minimum point requirement worth 50 points, limitation of maximum number of Chows in a winning hand to 1, and prohibition of mixed suits – but recommends these "non-Chinese additions" only as options for "advanced" players. Accordingly, these typically American additions are not used in the German rules of Four Winds, nor are they normally used in modern German rules, either.

The rules also use Flowers and Seasons. Since the scores will easily get very high with these rules, the Limit is set at 2,000 pts. As in many Western rules, the losers are paid not only for the completed sets but also for some uncompleted hands (like One suit and Honors, One suit Only, etc.).

Tiles	144 (136 + Flowers and Seasons)
Initial points	2,000
Limit points	2,000
Restrictions for the winning	None
Claiming rules for going out	Player first in turn wins
Passing of the deal	When non-dealer wins
Rule of Ready	None
Dead hand rules	None
Payment	Between all players; Chinese Classical scheme
Discards	In random order, no extended discard information
Specialties	Triplets and concealed hands emphasized; no Dead Wall
Scoring	Standard
Scores tile points	Standard. The losers are paid the same as the winner. In addition, the winner can collect basic points for the following patterns: Out on a concealed hand (10 pts), Out on a Chow hand (10 pts), Out on a Pung hand (10 pts), Out on a Kong hand (40 pts), Out on the last tile of the Wall (10 pts), Out on the first discard (10 pts), Out on the last discard (10 pts), Out on a supplement tile (10 pts), Out on a robbed Kong (10 pts). Note that several of these patterns pay also additional doubles.
Scores for basic sets	Melded Kong (1 dbl), Concealed Kong (1 dbl), Pung of Dragons (1 dbl), Kong of Dragons (1 dbl), Pung of Winds (1 dbl), Kong of Winds (1 dbl), Pung of Own Wind (2 dbl), Kong of Own Wind (2 dbl), Pung of Wind of the Round (2 dbl), Kong of Wind of the Round (2 dbl), Pung of Double Winds (3 dbl), Kong of Double Winds (3 dbl). The losers are paid the same as the winner.
Scores for Flowers and Seasons	4 points for each Flower/Season, 1 dbl for Flower/Season of Own Wind, 3 dbl for all Flowers or all Seasons. The losers are paid the same as the winner.
Scores for patterns based on Chows	4 Chows of 1 suit, step 2 (Dragon pair required, 50% of Limit). Note: No scoring for losers.
Scores for patterns based on Pungs and Kongs	Three concealed triplets (1 dbl). The losers are paid the same as the winner.
Scores for patterns based on the whole hand	Concealed hand (3 dbl), Fully concealed hand (50% of Limit; 100% if the hand contains doubles), Pung hand of one suit (1-3-5-7-9 and a pair of 1's or 9's required, 50% of Limit), One suit with Honors (1 dbl), One suit only (3 dbl). The losers are paid the same as the winner, but only for Concealed hand, One suit with Honors and One Suit only.
Scores for miscellaneous patterns	None
Scores for winning	Winning (20 pts), Self-drawn last tile (2 pts), One-chance hand (2 pts), Out on the last tile of the Wall (1dbl), Out on the last discard (1 dbl), Out on a supplement tile (1 dbl), Out by robbing a Kong (1 dbl).
Rounding	Rounding off to nearest ten after doubles
Penalties	Faulty out: No penalty; Faulty claims: No penalty; Insurance penalties: None
Limit hands	Classical: All Green (100%), Three Great Scholars (3 dbl), Big Four Winds (100%), All Honors (4 dbl), All Terminals (50%), Nine Gates (100%); Serpents: Wriggling Snake (50%), Little Snake with Dragons (100%); Pairs: Seven Pairs (50%), One Suit and Honor Pairs (100%), All Terminal and Honor Pairs (100%), All One Suit Pairs (150%), One Suit Terminal and Honor Pairs (150%), All Honor Pairs (200%), All Terminal Pairs (200%); Special ways of going out: Heavenly hand (100%), Earthly hand (2 dbl, allowed only from East's discard); American hands: None; Miscellaneous: None.

German Rules

The rules also use Flowers and Seasons. Since the scores will easily get very high with these rules, the Limit is set at 2,000 pts. As in many Western rules, the losers are paid not only for the completed sets but also for some uncompleted hands (like One suit and Honors, One suit Only, etc.).